Jack was just so tired after he arrived at the cottage that he didn't even notice how much it felt like home. Collapsing on what looked like a couch, he began to close his eyes when he heard a scream. Jumping up, he rushed outside to see a young girl being chased by a man in a uniform. Not fair. Running outside, he grabbed a rock and threw it at the soldier when he was close enough. Thinking fast, he ducked the punch thrown his way and tripped the soldier in one smooth motion. Those lessons of Lin's were paying off. After the other man ran off, he turned to the girl, who wrapped her arms around him, and he saw that she was running from, what looked like the remains of a farm burning to the sky.
"What does my cousin mean to you?"
Chase stared at Lin for a moment. This girl and Spicer, cousins? Impossible. Yet, Spicer had been looking as though he had been getting lessons from someone, and he had missed several showdowns in the process… Maybe she was telling the truth. Sighing, he tried to answer the question.
"Spicer is an annoyance to me, yet he also makes me feel somewhat happier than I did before I met him. In truth, I have no idea." Lin smiled when she heard the answer. It held promise and was close to what Jack had told her last she talked to him.
"Very well. The miniature you saw was one of the Emerald City, the capital city of Oz. Don't give me that look, Oz is a real place. In fact, Jack's family on his mother's side came here from Oz years ago. Starting with the arrival of his great grandfather, they lived here on earth to hide from those that wanted to abuse this book." Blowing the dust off an old book she had pulled out from under a pile of what Chase hoped wasn't rat bones; Lin turned it so he could see the title. "The Grimmere is a book of very powerful magic, and heck, even I won't use it. Don't have the right Talent for it."She shrugged. "But Jack does. Got it from his great-great-great grandmother, Elphaba; The Wicked Witch of the West."
Chase was shocked at that bit of knowledge. Spicer related to the most famous woman in the magical world!?! Impossible! Or was it? Elphaba wasn't known for being powerful so much as she was known for the way she went toward her cause and the way she did things. Perhaps Spicer was related to her…
After a bit, Chase let Lin talk him into letting her go with him to Oz. She did know more about the landscape, and with her help they could get back without the need of the model city. As she began chanting, Chase closed his eyes as to not let the bright light from the spell hurt his eyesight. There was a rise in the volume of the chanting and then a "fwoom" as the pair were sent to the plains near Vinkus, about a day's journey from where Jack was.